Overview of IGBT Driving Technology for High Voltage and High Capacity Applications

In high voltage and high capacity applications such as offshore wind power, high-speed trains, direct current transmission, and ship-integrated power supply, insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is the core component of power conversion equipment. Its gate drive circuits are critical to improving switching performance, reliability, and efficiency. Compared with medium and low power drive circuits, the high power IGBT driver has the characteristics of higher isolating voltage, large driving power, large switching spike stress, and comprehensive fault detection and protection. In this article, the driver technology of 3.3 kV–6.5 kV voltage level IGBT modules is investigated and analyzed, such as the power supply of the drive circuit, the electrical isolation of the drive circuit, the overshoot suppression of the switch, and the short-circuit detection protection and the driving protection technical characteristics of the high-voltage and high-power IGBT are summarized. Then, the driver-level IGBT condition monitoring technology that focuses on the working state of the single module is discussed, and the development direction of the monitoring technology is prospected. Finally, some suggestions are put forward for the research direction of high voltage and high capacity IGBT drive technology, and more useful and practical solutions are provided for the design of high-voltage and high-power IGBT drive circuits.